The latest Wing Commander game is here, and it's available for your Game Boy Advance!

Just wait until you see this game in action, folks...the 3D engine does the game extreme justice on the small screen...and it's expected to feature all the missions of the PC game (sans FMV, of course) and four player link as well.
-IGN, May 30, 2002

The challenges will be played with a maximum of four player-controlled spacecraft and equally as many from the CPU, for a total of eight craft in combat simultaneously on-screen. Gameplay will include numerous additional characteristics for deathmatch and cooperative missions, including the defense of particular outposts. Unfortunately the volume reduction through the connection cable means that four cartridges are necessary in order to enjoy these extras, though we think it's worth it!
-NRU, September 2002

More to come! Stay tuned to www.wcnews.com for the latest information.

FAQs and Facts

Q: When will Wing Commander Prophecy for Game Boy Advance be released?
A: Prophecy Advance shipped on May 28, 2003!

Q: Does this mean Electronic Arts and Origin are back into making Wing Commander games?
A: Not yet. EA still holds the license for future Wing Commander games on the PC. Origin may or may not be involved in future Wing Commander games on the computer, but multiple parties have expressed interest in continuing the series at some point.

Q: Why the Game Boy Advance?
A: A special set of circumstances fell into place to make this happen. Destination recently obtained its license and Raylight recently unveiled its incredible new 3D engine. The two got together to bring Wing Commander to the GBA.

Q: How will the story be told?
A: Though the GBA is capable of speech and FMV, WC1 style talkings heads, motion captured animation and in game cutscenes similar to those in Secret Ops will be the primary method of conveying the story. Actual video will not be used, but the new Blue Roses engine is fully capable of rendering 3d custscenes in-engine. A sample can be found here. In flight comms use full speech and animation.

Q: What sort of multiplayer is included?
A: Prophecy supports four player linkup through the use of four Game Boys and four separate cartridges. Both deathmatch and cooperative play has been confirmed. Star Giants was to have the following features: "Up to 4 players can join the action with different modes of play: all vs all, team game and cooperative game modes. Players can play against eachother, combat as a team (player 1+2 vs player 3+4) or engage in cooperation mode in which the 4 players must work together in order to accomplish their mission. The cooperation mode will have a completely new set of missions to involve all players in the action."

Q: So when will the first WCP GBA multiplayer tournament be held?
A: August 29 to September 1, 2003 in Atlanta, Georgia at DragonCon! Each summer fans of Wing Commander and guests of the CIC gather for an annual meeting at the world's largest science fiction convention in Atlanta. In 2003 we'll be competing on a large scale for the first time (unless another opportunity knocks). See you there!

Q: How did they fit WCP on a GBA cartridge?
A: Those cartridges pack a lot of data! Forty-eight of the original missions are expected to be included. The new engine actually allows the game to fit on a relatively small sized cartridge compared to comparable 2D sprite based games.

Q: How is Prophecy related to Star Giants?
A: Star Giants is now Wing Commander Prophecy. It was heavily modifed to resemble WCP, including full translation into 3D. You can find some incredibly Wing Commander-ific looking Star Giants screenshots here (remember this is from the old engine).

Q: How 3D can Prophecy on GBA be?
A: The Blue Roses engine can take advantage of thousands of polygons, skeletal animation, particle systems and more. Star Giants was to feature smoke trails, lens flares and wave effects for explosions. For more information, check out the Raylight site.

Q: What if I can't see the GBA screen?
A: There are many lighting solutions, including an amazing internal light or the new GBA SP. There are also simple mods that will allow you to display a GBA image on your television screen or computer monitor. In June 2003 Nintendo will be releasing a GameCube addon that will allow you to easily play Prophecy Advance on your television with a standard sized controller.

Q: How are fighters controlled?
A: Implementing a space combat simulation interface with limited buttons can present a challenge depending on the complexity of the game, but complex games have been modeled on few buttons before (such as Wing Commander for the Super Nintendo or SegaCD). Simple joysticks for the GBA directional pad can be obtained at Best Buy for about $1.50.